Microsoft Builds Online Tracking Blocking Feature Into IE9

Microsoft is building an anti-tracking function into its upcoming version of Internet Explorer. The new feature will let users easily keep lists of websites that track what they do online, and block any site from logging their web activity, the company announced Tuesday.

The new feature, called “Tracking Protection,” will be bundled into IE9’s next beta release early next year, and is intended to give users control over what widgets and scripts display — and pull in data — when they visit a given website.

The announcement comes just a week after the Federal Trade Commission castigated the online-ad industry for not regulating itself and dragging its feet on being transparent with users about the data they collect and how they use it.

The FTC also called for browser makers to build a “do not track” feature that, when turned on, would send a “no tracking, please” message to every website you visit. While the FTC lacks the authority to force companies to obey the flag, it called on advertisers to comply, with the veiled threat that it could get the power from Congress, if need be.

IE9’s Tracking Protection feature would work differently, by blocking websites and third-party plug-ins outright. People who wanted the blocks could subscribe to a “tracking protection list.” So, for instance, if the blocking list you subscribe to bans Google’s Analytics tracking service or Facebook’s Like button when you visit a webpage using those features, your browser will simply not load them and pass no information to those companies.

“These are complementary approaches, and different ways to get to the same goal of helping consumers block tracking,” said Dean Hachamovitch, the company’s vice president in charge of IE development. “This path is different in that it actually blocks the tracking now.”

Hachamovitch, along with the company’s top privacy strategist Peter Cullen, announced the feature in a webcast for reporters at the same time Google was unveiling the Chrome web store and Chrome OS. Microsoft has tried to portray itself as better on privacy than Google, which many fear knows too much about them.

Tracking protection lists can be created by anyone and published on the web, using a format that Microsoft is publishing under a Creative Commons license. So, anyone is free to make a list and other browser makers could use the lists as well, without infringing on Microsoft’s intellectual property.

The service will be turned off by default in the browser, but once it is on, users can choose to subscribe to a list, and when the creator updates the list, the browser will automatically sync with it. Lists can include both approved and verboten sites.

Microsoft said it will not ship IE9 with any lists built-in, and hopes to see a wide swath of groups and individuals create lists.

The feature is likely to be controversial for ad and tracking firms, which argue that much of the internet’s free services are dependent upon targeted advertising. Third-party advertising and tracking systems use cookies and JavaScript to watch what users do and read around the web in order to build a profile of interests about you, with the hopes of showing sports fans and knitting fanatics different ads.

Plug-ins from third parties have become increasingly popular in the last few years, and when you visit a news story on Wired.com or the Wall Street Journal your browser will load in ads, cookies, tracking beacons, content, commenting systems and scripts from sometimes dozens of third-parties.

For the most part, these tracking systems don’t know who you are, and simply create a unique ID, such as ADT187423, which it associates with that browser. Data collected over time is used to build up profiles by making guesses about you, to prevent you from seeing the same ad over and over, and to let websites understand how much traffic they get and how loyal their visitors are.

IE9’s new feature is most like the latter, but simplifies the process by making it easy to subscribe to other people’s lists and keep them updated over time.

One other key difference, however, is that when you visit a website, IE9 will pass along the information that you are using a “tracking protection list” to that site, which can then prompt you to unblock certain features, or even decide not to show you a news story until you do.

It’s unclear yet if the new feature will be so easy to use and widely adopted that it creates an arms race between advertisers and users.

History suggests not. Google, for instance, puts links on its display ads that take users to a page that lets them see their advertising profile, edit it and opt out if they like. But Google says that the small percentage of its massive user base who visit the page generally don’t opt out.